OTTAWA—The federal and Alberta governments have teamed up to monitor the environmental impact of the oil sands and hope publishing the data will help bring those wary of further development — including Americans — on board.

“This will provide what the scientific community demanded of us years ago: a more comprehensive set of data to go beyond the speculation of how industrial development is impacting the environment and to show specifically what that impact and effect is,” federal Environment Minister Peter Kent said Monday.

Kent was speaking at a press conference to launch a new website providing access to data collected by government scientists on the impact the oil sands projects have on air, water, wildlife and biodiversity.

“And where problems are detected or where danger levels are approached, it will encourage political action,” Kent said.

“Overall, the levels of contaminants in water and in air are not a cause for concern,” the website says.

The data also show some air samples taken from areas closer to oil sands mining and upgrading facilities contained concentrations of polyaromatic hydrocarbons that were double that of those measured at a greater distance, but the analysis blames this on how close it was to the development.

It also shows metal concentration levels in some water samples exceeding guidelines in the spring and summer, but notes this seasonal variation is expected in the Athabasca River and partly due to the natural makeup of that body of water.

The findings are preliminary, but Environment Canada says the amount of data will increase regularly as the project ramps up toward full implementation in 2015.

Kent said industry had agreed to cover the $50 million annual cost of the program and that invoices have been sent out.

The launch of the monitoring program and website comes at a time when the U.S. Statement Department is still mulling over whether to allow the Keystone XL pipeline to go ahead.

Canadian Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver said the monitoring program could play a role in boosting the credibility of Canada in the U.S. and overseas.

“I think it will be helpful because it further demonstrates that Canada has a totally transparent regime in contrast to the countries from which the United States is, in many cases, importing its oil,” Oliver told reporters Monday on a teleconference call from New York.

Green Party Leader Elizabeth May said the program came after decades of criticism over the lack of monitoring of the effects industrial development was having on the Athabasca watershed.

May also said what the government does with the information is just as important.

“The point of a monitoring program isn’t just to monitor and accumulate information of violations against regulations. It’s going to be to actually enforce laws when damage is being done,” May said Monday.

Diana McQueen, the Alberta minister for the environment and sustainable resource development, said her province set legally binding limits for contaminants in the lower Athabasca region and the monitoring program will help ensure industry stays within them.

“The limits that we have put with regards to the Lower Athabasca Regional Plan really gives us the opportunity, with this information as well, to make sure that we actually never hit those limits, so that industry collectively in that area can make adjustments so that we can continue to grow the oil sands,” McQueen said at the Ottawa news conference Monday.

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